When They Met
by reddragoncrp
Summary: When Jack O'Neill met Vicky McPherson-prequel to Secrets of the Past Come Round Again
1. CAPTAIN AND COMMANDER

CAPTAIN AND COMMANDER

A/N For those who haven't read my previous one "Secrets of the Past Come Round Again" (I know the title sucks, but the story is better, promise) because it introduces the Character of Vicky.

Captain Jack O'Neill turned more than a few female heads as he walked through the halls of the Naval Annex in his class A uniform. God, how he hated his dress uniform. Give him armed combat against overwhelming odds any day.

He couldn't understand why they wanted an Air Force officer in the Navy's equivalent of the Pentagon anyway. Stopping a passing Marine he said, "could you tell me how to get to Admiral McPherson's office?"

"Sir, yes, Sir."

Jack waited a minute, no wonder they called them jarheads. "Want to share that information with me?"

"Sorry, Sir," the Marine then gave him detailed directions.

"Thanks, dismissed," and he returned the Marine's salute before turning in the right direction.

Having found the right office Jack stood at attention and saluted the Lt. Commander that was the Admiral's adjutant. "Captain Jonathan O'Neill reporting as ordered, Sir."

The Lt. Commander took his time looking up from his paperwork. "At ease, Captain. Have a seat and I'll see if the Admiral will see you."

Jack knew that he was jerking him around just because he could but it still made him nervous. He went over and took a seat that in typical military fashion was functional not comfortable. Of course there was nothing to read and Jack was easily bored. He sat up straight in the chair and bounced his legs up and down.

It seemed like an hour when the Lt. Commander came back to tell Jack that the Admiral would see him but it was only a couple of minutes. Jack stood before another desk at attention and saluting, "Captain Jonathan O'Neill reporting as ordered, Sir."

The Admiral ignored him for a while. /damn, what is with these Navy guys/ Finally he looked up and said, "At ease, son, have a seat." Jack sat while the Admiral studied him intently. "Do you know why you're here?"

"No, Sir, not really. Just something about a special assignment. Begging the admiral's pardon, but do you mind telling me why the Navy wanted an Air Force officer."

"As a matter of fact I do mind," The McPherson looked at him sternly.

/crap now I've done it/

"You are here to audition for an undercover assignment."

"Audition, Sir?" /what the hell was he supposed to do, sing, and dance/

"Audition, try out, see if you're good enough."

"Yes, Sir."

"We need someone who is not with the Navy for this assignment. You are, in fact, the seventeenth service man asked for this assignment. All of the previous sixteen failed miserably."

Jack swallowed, "Sir, just what is this assignment?"

"You will find out when, make that if, you pass the test. First I have a few questions."

"Of course, Sir."

"According to your record you aren't married, is that correct?"

/not married? What the hell was going on/ "No, Sir."

"Do you have a girlfriend?"

"No, Sir, not right now."

"Dating anyone?"

"No, Sir, I've been pretty busy with all of my recent training."

"Good, because if you do get this assignment you will probably be undercover of about six months. Is that a problem?"

"No, Sir."

The Admiral handed him a file. "In this file is information of a rural house that you will put under surveillance. Your assignment will be to break in to this house."

"Then what?"

"Then nothing, your test will be to make it into this house. You may requisition any and all equipment that you feel you need."

"Just break into this house, that's it."

"Yes."

"And sixteen guys before me failed."

"Yes."

"What's so special about this house?"

"There is nothing special about it. The Commander that will be running this mission wants to make damn sure that you will be good enough to carry this off because both of your lives will depend on it."

"I can understand that, Sir. How long do I have before it has to be done?"

"Today's Friday, take the weekend off then start on Monday. If you haven't done it by next Friday we will go on the next candidate. Dismissed."

Jack snapped to attention and saluted before leaving the office. On his way out he snapped a salute at a female Commander that while returning his barely seemed to notice him. To bad because she's cute, she looks damn young to be a Commander though. His last thought as he passed her was "nice ass, too".

Commander Vicky McPherson noticed Jack a lot more than she let on. She cut her eyes over so she could check out his ass, too. She walked past the adjutant without a word and pushed into her father's office. "So that was the latest?"

"Yes, Captain Jack O'Neill," he said as he handed his daughter Jack's file.

"A little on the pretty side for my tastes."

"His looks don't matter, it's his abilities that do."

"Yeah, well, I'm the one who's going to have to be married to him. Does he know?"

"Why get into that until you see whether or not he passes your test."

"That's true enough."

"I told him to take the weekend off and start on Monday."

"I'm going out now in case he has sense enough to get started now."

It was a good thing she was going to get straight to it because Jack was already filling out the proper forms to get what he needed. He was going to eat and start tonight. To hell with waiting until Monday, Jack planned on being inside that house before then.


	2. THE TEST

THE TEST

Jack had grabbed some Chinese food and brought to his apartment so that he could eat while he studied the map he had obtained on the area where the house was. It was in a rural area of Maryland about thirty miles from Fredrick.

The house was set off of a small road. It wouldn't have any neighbors which was good because he wasn't sure how sell he could explain what he was doing to the local police. He sure a shell couldn't explain why he needed all of the sophisticated electronic equipment and why he had to break into a house.

After he ate he grabbed a shower and changed into dark civilian clothing. He packed a duffle bag with some extra clothing a couple of sandwiches and a thermos of coffee and he headed out.

Jack drove slowly past the driveway to the house. It was starting to get dark but there was still enough light to give him a pretty good idea of the layout of the place. The house was and old wood structure with a small porch on the front. There was a chain link fence surrounding the property and Jack could see two Dobermans running loose in the yard.

Just what he needed, another obstacle, he really shouldn't be surprised though, after all, hadn't sixteen other guys failed this test? He was determined not to be the next to fail. Jack was pretty confident in his abilities. He also wanted to wipe the smug look off of that asshole Admiral. the one that said "you're just Air Force, I know you don't have what it takes".

What he didn't see as he drove past were the very well hidden surveillance cameras. Inside Vicky watched as he drove by slowly. /he is cute, a little pretty for my tastes, but he'll do. That is if he passes/ She smiled, at least he was using initiative and not really taking the weekend off like most of the candidates.

Jack drove about a quarter of a mile further and took a small dirt road that would take him behind the property. The road led to the ruins of a burned down house that had never been rebuilt. This was perfect. He parked and unloaded the gear that he needed, and started off through the woods.

After about fifteen minutes he came across the chain link fence. Even in the growing darkness he could see the brush was cleared for about a yard on either side if the fence. This made him suspicious so he picked up a rock and tossed it at the fence. Jack was glad he had done that when a shower of sparks shot off of it.

Well that would have been a quick way to fail the test. He got the grappling hook with the small line out of the bag and used it to secure a line to a branch of a tree just inside the fence. He then climbed a tree on his side of the fence so that he could tie off the other side of the line and slide over the fence.

Inside the house Vicky watched on the monitor. She couldn't see much on the regular but could watch his movements on the infrared. Round one to the fly-boy.

Jack got close enough so that he could see the house and climbed up a tree again to get a better viewpoint. He didn't want to get to close because of the dogs. Because of them he had also made sure he was down wind.

He pulled a night vision camera and took a number of pictures. Then he got a comfortable as he could in a tree to watch for a while.

Vicky could tell he was parked for a while so she went upstairs and switched on the monitor up there. Maybe if she pretended to go to bed he would attempt to some inside. Smiling to herself she got a wicked idea.

With the curtains closed she knew that O'Neill couldn't actually see anything but she could still give him a bit of a show. She went and stood before the window, knowing she was backlit and started to undress.

Jack about fell out of the tree when he saw the female form in the window start to take her clothes off. It must have been a pretty low window, too, because he could see most of her body. And a very nice body it was. She turned sideways as she pulled her top off and he could see the full form of her breast.

This was strangely turning on Vicky. With the inferred cameras she could see him lean forward to get a better look. She went into the shower, glad that it had a glass door instead of a curtain so that she was again backlit. She slowly ran the washcloth over herself, making sure she turned herself in profile to the window.

Vicky's act was really getting to Jack. He was going to have a hard time, pun intended, getting down the tree with out permanently damaging himself. /I want to break in now but it doesn't have anything with any mission/

Vicky finally got out of the shower and toweled herself off. She got into bed and turned out the light watching the monitor that turned towards her but away from the window to watch to see of O'Neill would make his move.

Jack stayed in the tree for quite a while. It took a long time before he could stop the fantasies that were running through his head. /damn, I have to stop this; this is the sort of thing that could get me killed on a mission.

Vicky was disappointed to see O'Neill leave when he finally climbed down. She didn't fall asleep for a long time. She enjoyed putting on that show way too much. It took quite sometime for her fantasies to stop too.

When Jack got home he took a long cold shower before he even tried to go to sleep. Thanks God it was Saturday tomorrow and he could sleep late, and he would sleep as long as possible because he wasn't going to go back until it was dark again.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Vicky had gotten up late because it had taken so long to fall asleep. It wasn't until the dogs whining woke her. As went out and feed them and then took a run around the perimeter of the property with the dogs happy to run with her. They forgave her their late breakfast with the exercise.

Jack also slept late. After about the fifth lap around his apartment he decided to go to the gym. He worked up quite a sweat with the weights and was using the punching bag when some unsuspecting guy asked if he wanted to spar. The guy was even taller than Jack's six foot three and had about thirty pounds on him. If he thought he was in for an easy workout by was he going to be surprised.

After a couple of minutes in the ring a crowd had started to gather. While his opponent was bigger and had a longer reach Jack was faster and military trained so that, if anything, Jack had the advantage.

They had both gotten pretty tired when the other guy finally raised both his hands in surrender. "Hey, buddy, I'm wiped, I give up."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure."

"OK, thanks, anytime you want to spar just let me know."

"No offence but I think it will be a little while before I take you up on that."

Jack gave him a wry smile and a shake of his head before he went off to hit the showers.

Jack studied the layout of the property and all of the pictures that he took for the rest of the afternoon. He was leaving nothing to chance. When he packed up he left a lot of the stuff behind that would weigh him down. He made sure everything fit into his backpack.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Having parked at the same place, Jack quickly moved through the woods to where he had the line already to cross the electrified fence. After having crossed he moved towards the road and the power lines. He climbed the pole and set small C-4 charges on the lines with a remote detonator because he wasn't going to take the chance on frying himself by cutting the lines while on the pole. When he climbed down and was clear he blew the charges.

Vicky had been watching Jack's movements and knew she was in trouble when she saw him climb the power pole so it came as no surprise when the power went our. Now she was blind as to his movements.

She went out to send the dogs in his direction and hurried back inside and locked up everything tight.. She went from room to room making sure that all of the curtains were open so that she could see him easier. When she was doing this she heard the dogs one after the other give a yip and fall silent.

/he better not have killed those dogs/

Jack being a dog lover had shot the dogs with a tranquilizer dart that he had gotten from the vet on base. It immediately neutralized the dogs without hurting them.. He then went around to the side of the house where the chimney was. He swung up another grappling hood and used it to get to a second story window.

Jack clipped the rope to his safety harness and placed a suction cup to one of the panes of glass above the window lock. Then he took a glasscutter and cut the glass. He carefully removed it and put his hand inside and unlocked the window.

The sound of distant thunder covered what little sound he made as he went through the window and set his equipment down, now all he would need would be his sidearm. He took off his shoes to help him with the noise.

Downstairs Vicky was going from room to room looking for a shadow of movement. It started to get windy outside as a storm approached. Damn first the power then lights now she won't be able to hear every small sound over the wind.

She spun towards one room at a sound only to be grabbed from behind. She would have fought back except for the feel of cold steel against her temple. Aa arm around her stomach held her in a vice like grip.

They stood like for a moment before he whispered in her ear, "hey, do I get what I was through the window last night as my prize?"


	3. MISSION BREIFING

MISSION BREIFING

Vicky could not believe she was in this position. Not only did O'Neill get into the house but also he had a gun to her head. She was both pissed and elated. Pissed because she took this as a failure, and she didn't take failure well, and elated to finally find someone who could actually watch her six on this dangerous mission.

The mission had to be done, she knew that and the Admiral was getting impatient.

"As a matter of fact you do."

"Excuse me?" Jack couldn't believe what she had said. His body started to react before he could rein his imagination in. Damn, what the hell was he thinking? /don't kid yourself, Jackie-boy, thinking is the last thing on your mind/

You pass the test, Captain, if you would be so kind as to remove the gun from my head I can brief you on the mission."

Jack let her go quickly, "Um, sorry about that."

"Don't be, Captain, you're the only one who even came close to passing the test." She led him into the living room of the house where she lit several candles, giving Jack a chance to look her over for the first time.

As she bent over to get some more candles from a cabinet her got a really good view of her ass. /nice/

"Beer?"

"Huh?"

"Would you like a beer, Captain? There are some in the fridge and it would be a shame for them to get warm."

"OK, sure"

"Oh, right, sorry." Vicky smiled and held out her hand for him to shake, "Commander Vicky McPherson."

"Captain Jack O'Neill."

"I know, I read your file," she told him over her shoulder. "Have a seat, I'll be right back."

Jack looked around and picked a seat on one end of the couch. He stood when Vicky came back and handed him a beer. "Thanks, Ma'am."

"Call me Vicky we'll be on first name basis for the mission."

"Uh, OK, then call me Jack."

"Have a seat, Jack." She went to a briefcase that was on the floor, picked it up and then set it on the coffee table and sat on the couch next to Jack. "By the way, you didn't kill the dogs, did you?"

"Jack was horrified at the very idea, "No, Ma'am, I used a tranquilizer gun."

She gave him a big smile, "good, I would hate to think you killed them."

"No, Ma'am, dogs are my favorite people."

Vicky laughed, "Mine, too. And Jack?"

"Yes, Ma'am?"

"For crying out loud, drop the Ma'am."

He gave her a big smile and look a gulp of his beer, "so what's this mission, Vicky?"

She smiled back and opened the briefcase and got out some files. "It has come to the attention of the United States government that a number of drug and arms dealers are in a dangerous alliance. There is a credible threat that terrorist have also become involved. They're using drugs to finance acquiring arms and money to further their agendas."

"I see where that is a concern but where do I fit in? Aren't there people who are better trained to handle this kind of thing?"

"Yes, but there appear to be several major leaks on all of the government agencies that are involved."

"All, even the military?"

"Yes, unfortunately." Vicky sighed and laid out a number of pictures. "These are pictures of a number of our agents who have been killed because of these leaks."

"Why the hell would anybody do that?"

"Money, what else?"

Jack frowned; money would never motivate him to do anything like that. As a matter of fact he couldn't think of anything that would motivate him to betray his country or the people he worked with.

"Bastards!"

"Exactly."

"So what are we going to do, go undercover?"

"Yes." Vicky held her breath at what was sure to be his next question, and he didn't disappoint her.

"What's our cover?"

"We are going to be married."

Jack's eyebrows nearly disappeared into his hairline. "We're posing as a married couple?"

"No, we are going to really get married. They own to many people to take the chance that they would find out it was a cover so we really have to be married."

He gaped at her. "Get married? Is that why the Admiralâwait a minute, Admiral McPherson? Are you related?"

"He's my father."

"Jesus Christ! And he's letting you do this? That's why he asked me about girlfriends."

"He knows this had to be done. I volunteered for this mission."

"That's why the test, you wanted to make sure someone was good enough to protect you."

"Not protect, I can take care of myself, someone I can count on not to get me killed."

Jack stared at the floor. /shit, married? He hadn't counted on that/

"This is strictly voluntary, if you don't want to do this I'll understand and I'll find someone else."

Jack looked at her, she was obviously apprehensive. Damn she was beautiful, smart, too. Hell, if she could do this"I'll do it, surprising him as much as her."

She let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding. Vicky didn't know why it was important to her that he agrees. Probably, as her father pointed out, they were running out of time.

"Well, good. Another thing is that you'll have to resign your commission." She put up her hand when he started to protest, "it's not for real, though only a couple of people will know that. My father will have a file with a letter from him and a letter from the president saying that you did this under orders so after you can go back to your career. I'll have to do the same."

"So, married huh? How long will this be for?"

"we figure it will take about six months. Unfortunately our families, except for my father, will have to think that it's real."

"I really don't have much of a family, so that's not a problem. What about you Mom?"

"My Mom is great and I think as long as she thinks I'll be happy she won't have a problem with it."

Jack gave her a shy smile, "Well good. Then after the mission?"

"We can get divorced and go our separate ways."

"Umâsis months living as"

"Well, we will be marriedâbut let's not get ahead of ourselves there fly-boy"

Jack blushed and smiled sheepishly. "So exactly how do we go about this."

"We'll spend a couple of weeks dating, during which we will both study as much of the Intel as we can, then after a whirlwind romance, we get married." Vicky studied him as he pretended to study the files. "Jack," she said softly. When he looked up at her she continued, "this is going to be hard on both of us, but we'll get through it. We can use this time as an opportunity to get to know each other and trust each other. We will have to trust each other with our lives."

"I won't let anything happen to you."

"And I won't let anything happen to you."

Jack smiled, "so, can I call you? Do you want to see a movie or something?"

Vicky laughed, "That's a good start. I think we're both tired and need sleep so why don't we do something tomorrow afternoon?"

She got up to walk him to the door.

"Sorry about your electricity."

"Don't worry about it. I don't live here. This is a house that is used for SEAL training." She handed him a card, "This is my address and phone number, why don't you come by about one o'clock tomorrow and we'll do something."

"It's a date, then." Jack gave her a little smile and headed off through the woods humming to himself. This mission wouldn't be bad at all.

As she watched him go Vicky thought much the same thing.


End file.
